Closure cap and sealed package therefor



g- 4, 1954 G. J. Foss ETAL CLOSURE CAP AND SEALED PACKAGE 'IHEREFOR Filed Feb. 10, 1960 INVENTORS GEO? d. oss

BY Dan ea 0. Hard? United States Patent 3,143,234 CLOSURE CAP AND SEALED PACKAGE TEEREFGR George J. Foss and Daniel D. Acton, Lancaster, Ghic,

assignors to Anchor Hocking Glass Corporation, Lancaster, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Filed Feb. 10, 1960, Ser. No. 7,842 7 Claims. (Cl. 215-40) The present invention relates to the sealing art and more particularly to an improved closure cap adapted to be applied to a container to form a hermetically sealed package.

The increasing use of food products which are preferably packaged in hermetically sealed packages makes it desirable to use a closure cap which forms a hermetic seal with a container and which will maintain the hermetic seal during handling.

Closure caps have been used for many years for hermetically sealing packages. Such closure caps are provided with sealing gaskets which form a tight seal with the container rim to hermetically seal the contents therein. In order to form a leak-proof seal, such sealing gaskets must be applied to the closure caps in such a manner as to prevent the entrance of air into the container.

Some of the gaskets which have been used for these containers are the so-called flowed-in type gaskets which are formed by flowing a rubber-like gasket material into the closure and curing the gasket material to harden it into a gasket.

Another type of gasket which has been used is the so-called cut-ring type gasket. This gasket is made from a tube of vulcanized rubber, or other suitable material, from which the desired gaskets are cut and applied to the closure cap and held therein by an adhesive or other suitable means. Such gaskets are obtainable from suppliers and are extensively used in screw caps, both of the lug and thread type, for forming hermetic seals.

Closure caps which are in use today, whether they employ flowed-in type gaskets or cut-ring type gaskets, are generally adapted to form a top seal, that is to say, the gasket cooperates with the top edge or rim of the container to form a seal. It has been found that due to imperfections in the rim of the container, such as a low spot, a top-sealing gasket does not always enter such a low spot to form a hermetic seal.

It has also been found that during handling, if the corner of the cap is struck a top-seal gasket, especially a gasket of the cut-ring type, tends to be disturbed or displaced sideways to adversely affect the tight seal.

The present invention overcomes these difiiculties and has for one of its objects an improved closure cap which permits an improved seal to be maintained with a closure.

Another object of the present invention is to effect both a top-seal and a side seal for the container so that imperfections in the container rim will not effect the hermetic seal.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved closure cap in which the gasket will not be disturbed if the container is struck or dropped on the corner of the cap.

Another object of the present invention is the improved closure cap which will not require the use of an adhesive to retain a cut-ring gasket in place.

A further object of the present invention will be to provide an improved hermetically sealed package which will maintain its hermetic seal until opened by a housewife.

Other and further objects of the invention will be obvious upon an understanding of the illustrative embodiment about to be described, or will be indicated in the appended 3,143,234 Patented Aug. 4, 1964 ice claims, and various advantages not referred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art upon employment of the invention in practice.

A preferred embodiment of the invention has been chosen for purposes of illustration and description and is shown in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the specification, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an exploded sectional view showing a closure cap and cut-ring type gasket before they are assembled together;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the position of the cut-ring when it is inserted in the closure cap;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing the position of the cut-ring gasket when it is mounted on a container;

FIG. 4 is an exaggerated sectional View of another em bodiment of the present invention showing the use of flowed-in type gasket with a closure shell similar to that shown in FIGS. 1 to 3; and

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing the position of the gasket when it is affixed to a container.

Referring more particularly to FIGS. 1 to 3, showing a cut-ring type gasket, and more particularly to FIG. 1, closure cap 1 is comprised of a cover portion 2 and a skirt portion 3 depending therefrom. The lower edge of the skirt portion 3 is rolled inwardly to form a bead 4. Suitable locking lugs 5 are provided on the head 4 at spaced intervals to permit the closure cap to be secured to a container.

The upper part 6 of the skirt 3 is set-in from the skirt 3 and cooperates with an upwardly directed peripherally extending shoulder 7 on the cover portion 2 to form a gasket-receiving channel 8. An inwardly directed gasketsupporting bead 9 is formed immediately below the setin part 6 of the skirt in order to act as a gasket-retaining ledge to hold the gasket in the closure without the necessity of using an adhesive.

The gasket-receiving channel 3 is provided with a substantially horizontal top-sealing section 10 and an inclined side-sealing section 11 to permit both a top-seal and a side-seal. The side-sealing section 11 is preferably angled at approximately 30 to the horizontal. However, the incline of the side-sealing section 11 may be changed, if desired.

The cut gasket 15 which is adapted to be mounted in the closure cap is also shown in FIG. 1 and comprises a thin ring of vulcanized rubber or some other suitable material which may be cut from a tube of rubber or other suitable material which has previously been heated to cure or vulcanize it. When the gasket 15 is mounted on the closure cap, it will assume the position shown in FIG. 2 and will rest on the gasket-supporting bead 9 of the cap and be held in place without the aid of an adhesive.

The container on which the closure cap is to be applied is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 and comprises the usual glass finish 26 having an upper rim 21 and thread portions 22 adapted to cooperate with the locking lugs 5 on the closure cap when the cap is applied thereto to hold the cap on the container.

The rim 21 of the container has a substantially horizontal top-sealing surface 23 and an inclined side-sealing surface 24-. The angle of the inclined side-sealing surface preferably corresponds to the inclined side-sealing section 11 of the gasket-receiving channel 8 in the closure cap. Preferably, the inclined side-sealing surface 24 is angled at approximately 30 to the horizontal but other angles may also be used.

When the closure cap is applied to the container (FIG. 3) the gasket 15 will be compressed between the sealing surfaces 23 and 24 of the container rim 21 and the sealing sections 10 and 11 of the gasket-receiving channel 8. The top-sealing section 9 of the closure will press the inner portion of the gasket 15 against the top-sealing surface 23 of the container finish to form a top seal. At the same time the inclined side-sealing section 11 of the closure will compress the outer portion of the gasket against the inclined side-sealing surface 24 of the container to form an hermetic seal.

Since the closure cap forms both a top-seal and sideseal with the container, if there is an imperfection in the container rim at inclined side-sealing surface 24 the top-seal will prevent air from entering the package Whereas if the imperfection is in the top-sealing surface 23 of the container, the side-seal will prevent air from entering. Hence, the package will maintain its hermetic seal regardless of the location of imperfections on the container rim. In addition, if the container is dropped or struck at the edge of the closure during handling, the gasket cannot be displaced or disturbed because of the inclined position of the gasket.

Referring more particularly to FIGS. 4 and 5, in which the cap is shown with a flowed-in type gasket, a closure 31 is shown which is similar to the closure 1 shown at FIGS. 1 through 3. The closure 31 has a skirt portion 33 and a cover portion 32. The edge of the skirt portion is rolled inwardly to form the bead 34 and a plurality of inwardly extending locking lugs 35 to permit the closure to be mounted on a suitable container to form a sealed package.

The upper part of the skirt portion is inwardly directed as shown at 36 and the cover portion 32 is provided with a shoulder 37 to form a gasket receiving channel 38. The gasket receiving channel 33 has a horizontal sealing portion 40 and an inclined sealing portion 41. A peripheral bead 39 is provided below the upper part 36 of the skirt 33.

A gasket 45 is formed in the closure by flowing a suitable gasket material, such as a plastisol, into the gasket-receiving channel 38. The flowed-in gasket 45 is adapted to completely fill the gasket-receiving channel 38 as shown in FIG. 4 and to bond itself to both the horizontal sealing surface 40 of the cap and the inclined sealing surface 41 thereof. The bead 39 aids in confining the flowed-in gasket material to the limits of the gasket-receiving channel 38.

When the closure cap is mounted on a container 59 (FIG. having the threaded portions 52 and the upper rim 42, the gasket 45 will be squeezed between the inclined sealing section 41 of the closure cap and the inclined sealing surface 44 of the container and between the horizontal sealing section 40 of the closure cap and the horizontal sealing surface 43 of the container to form a more perfect seal.

Hence, the gasket will provide a hermetically sealed package even if the container has imperfections in the finish.

It will be seen from the above that the present invention provides an improved closure cap and sealed package which will seal a container by, a side-sealing action and top-sealing action so as to prevent a sealed package from losing its hermetic seal due to imperfections in the container rim. The present invention also prevents the gasket from being displaced or disturbed if the container is dropped or struck at the corner edge of the closure. In addition, the present invention provides an improved closure cap which will permit a cut ring gasket to be mounted therein without the necessity of an adhesive.

As various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and without sacrificing any of its advantages, it is to be understood that all matter herein is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. A closure cap comprising a cover portion and a depending skirt portion, the lower edge of said skirt portion being rolled inwardly to form a bead, a plurality of spaced locking lugs extending inwardly from said portion being substantially parallel to and above the plane of the cover portion, and means for retaining said gasket in said gasket-receiving channel.

2. A closure cap as claimed in claim 1, wherein said gasket-receiving channel is connected to said cover portion by an inner inclined wall and wherein said gasket is snaced from the inner inclined wall.

3. A closure cap as claimed in claim 2, wherein said cover portion has a resilient upwardly extending central portion.

4. A closure cap comprising a cover portion and a depending skirt portion, the lower edge of said skirt portion being rolled inwardly to form a bead, a plurality of spaced locking lugs extending inwardly from said bead adapted to engage a container to hold said closure cap on the container, the upper section of said skirt portion being inset from the lower section of the skirt portion, an annular gasket-receiving channel in said cover portion adjacent said upper inset section of the skirt, a gasket in said gasket-receiving channel, at least a portion of the top surface of said gasket-receiving channel being substantially flat, said gasket-receiving channel being provided with an outer peripheral tapered portion which merges with said flat portion, the plane of said flat portion being substantially parallel to and above the plane of the cover portion, and means for retaining said gasket in said gasket-receiving channel.

5. A closure cap comprising a cover portion and a depending skirt portion, the lower edge of said skirt portion being rolled inwardly to form a bead, a plurality of spaced locking lugs extending inwardly from said head adapted to engage a container to hold said closure cap on the container, the upper section of said skirt portion being inset from the lower section of the skirt portion, an annular gasket-receiving channel in said cover portion adjacent said upper inset section of the skirt, a gasket in said gasket-receiving channel, a portion of the top surface of said gasket-receiving channel being substantially flat, the plane of said fiat portion being substantially parallel to and above the plane of the cover portion, said gasket-receiving channel being provided with an outer peripheral tapered portion which merges with said fiat portion, means for retaining said gasket in said gasket-receiving channel and said skirt portion being struck inwardly between said upper inset section and said lower section to form a gasket-supporting ledge.

6. A sealed package comprising a container and closure cap, said closure cap having a cover portion and a depending skirt portion, the lower edge of said skirt portion being rolled inwardly to form a bead, a plurality of spaced locking lugs extending inwardly from said bead adapted to engage the container to hold said closure on the container, the upper section of said skirt portion! being inset from the lower section of the skirt portion,

the lower section of said skirt portion being spaced fromthe container throughout its periphery, an annular gasketreceiving channel in said cover portion adjacent the up per inset section of the skirt, a gasket in said gasketreceiving channel, an annular portion of the top surface of said gasket-receiving channel being substantially flat, the plane of the fiat portion of the top surface of the gasket-receiving channel being substantially parallel to and above the plane of the cover portion, means for retaining said sealing gasket in said gasket-receiving channel, and said container having a sealing surface adapted to cooperate with the flat surface of the gasket-recelvmg channel of the closure cap to compress the gasket therebetween and form a hermetic seal.

7. A sealed package comprising a container and closure cap, said closure cap having a cover portion and a depending skirt portion, the lower edge of said skirt portion being rolled inwardly to form a bead, a plurality of locking lugs extending inwardly from said bead adapted to engage the container to hold said closure on the container, the upper section of said skirt portion being inset from the lower section of the skirt portion, the lower section of said skirt portion being spaced from the container throughout its periphery, an annular gasket-receiving channel in said cover portion adjacent the upper inset section of the skirt, a gasket in said gasket-receiving channel, a portion of the top surface of said gasket-receiving channel being substantially flat, the plane of the horizontal portion of the top surface of the gasket-receiving channel being substantially parallel to and above the plane of the cover portion, said gasket-receiving channel having an outer peripheral tapered portion merging with said flat portion, means for retaining said sealing gasket in said gasket-receiving channel, and said container having a sealing surface adapted to cooperate with the top flat surface of the gasket-receiving channel and a tapered sealing surface adapted to cooperate with the tapered portion of the gasket-receiving channel whereby the gasket is compressed therebetween to form a hermetic seal.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,335,054 Hammer Mar. 30, 1920 1,512,347 Lorenz Oct. 21, 1924 1,657,710 Carvalho Jan. 31, 1928 1,842,429 Scofield Ian. 26, 1932 2,463,701 Krueger Mar. 8, 1949 2,471,565 Glocker May 31, 1949 2,484,039 Krueger Oct. 11, 1949 3,017,048 Foye Jan. 16, 1962 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent N06 3,14%234 August 4, 1964 George Jo Foss et all,

It is hereby certified that error appears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

Column 4, line 4, for "as" read a Signed and sealed this 24th day of November 1964.

(SEAL) Attest:

ERNEST W. SWIDER Attesting Officer EDWARD J. BRENNER Commissioner of Patents 

1. A CLOSURE CAP COMPRISING A COVER PORTION AND A DEPENDING SKIRT PORTION, THE LOWER EDGE OF SAID SKIRT PORTION BEING ROLLED INWARDLY TO FORM A BEAD, A PLURALITY OF SPACED LOCKING LUGS EXTENDING INWARDLY FROM SAID INWARDLY ROLLED BEAD ADAPTED TO ENGAGE A CONTAINER TO HOLD SAID CLOSURE CAP ON THE CONTAINER, THE UPPER SECTION OF SAID SKIRT PORTION BEING INSET FROM THE LOWER SECTION OF THE SKIRT PORTION, AS GASKET-RECEIVING CHANNEL IN SAID COVER PORTION ADJACENT SAID UPPER INSET SECTION OF THE SKIRT, A GASKET IN SAID GASKET-RECEIVING CHANNEL, AT LEAST A PORTION OF THE TOP SURFACE OF SAID GASKET-RECEIVING CHANNEL BEING SUBSTANTIALLY FLAT, THE PLANE OF SAID FLAT PORTION BEING SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO AND ABOVE THE PLANE OF THE COVER PORTION, AND MEANS FOR RETAINING SAID GASKET IN SAID GASKET-RECEIVING CHANNEL. 